Клетка и жизнь

Our personal acquaintance dates back to nearly 20 years ago. We met on the occasion of the 16th Congress of the Federation of the European Biochemical Societies, taking place in Moscow, to which I was invited. I still wonder how many and what kind of strings you had to pull in the not-so-friendly Soviet Academy in order to bring me, a young boy from a problematic country, to Moscow. We shared a scientific session (see below), had similar scientific passions, but beyond all these, this was the start of a very special friendship.

I am not sure I have ever told you — but this visit was truly one of the strongest, most moving and memorable events of my life. Moscow, for me, was a remote and mysterious place, unacces-sible, hidden behind an iron curtain, almost unreal. At the same time, the place and the culture were something very close, almost familiar, via my strong exposure to classical and recent Russian literature and history and strong awareness of the civil rights struggle, which I followed very closely.

And then came our first meeting, with many discussions about cell adhesion a

nd motility, cell polarization and the nature of human life, and how one tries to do research despite all odds, and how sophisticated simple experiments may actually be, and how one can use good spirits and humor in order to survive and succeed in an impossible reality (a quality that is a great asset anywhere). You further demonstrated the great value of good humor, having a relevant good story for almost every situation. You taught me that jokes can be categorized (among others) according to the location where you can tell them without taking major risk. There are jokes you can tell at home, others are suitable for the bus, while with other jokes you have to wait till you are alone in the street, and the best ones are those that you can never tell without risk.

And the humor that somewhat softens the hardships of life in the Soviet system like a story about a guy who gets stuck in the airport for hours, since his flight is delayed due to a large number of high-ranking Party officials going abroad on important missions. So after sitting at the gate for many long hours he turns to his wife saying: Now, after all these guys left the country, we have no particular reason to leave any more, and then he leaves Sheremetyevo and goes back home.

And the dinner we had at the Georgian Aragvi restaurant (in Gorky St., if I am not wrong), when I served as your «Deputy Tamada», eating and drinking and getting embarrassingly emotional. So many memories.

And your life-long activity with seminal contributions to science in general and to the biology of cells in particular. Your observations of spreading or moving cells revealed very basic features of cell behavior, and became true «textbook material». The understanding of the structure, functions and dynamics of the cytoskeleton is based, in a major way, on your insights and experimental approach, and so is our understanding of cell polarization. In a way the current trend to look at complex system as integrated networks, where cross-talk between specific systems (microfilaments and microtubules, for example) is as important as the intrinsic activity of the individual systems, was pioneered by you, when the common trend was still highly reductionist. You also deserve special credit and admiration for raising and educating incredible students who carry on your tradition. Many of your «scientific children» are now leaders in so many fields of modern cell biology.

I wish you many more active, exciting and inspiring years with good health and satisfaction. Enjoy your family, your science and your many friends all over the world, and continue to enrich the lives of all those who surround you and work with you.

Memories of Juri Vasiliev

^{Ken JACOBSON. Kenan Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of Cell Biology and Physiology University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.}

My relationship with Juri began in the early 90s when on a visit to Chapel Hill, he suggested that we cooperate on a Fogarty International Research Collaboration grant (FIRCA). We were successful in getting the grant for three years and renewing it for an additional three years.